2002 Nutmeg  State Open Bench Press and Deadlift

12/8/02

Womens Bench Press

Womens Deadlift

Mens Bench Press

Mens Deadlift

*WR – WPA World Record
BLW – Best Lifter Women
BLM – Best Lifter Master
BLL – Best Lifter Lightweight
BLH – Best Lifter Heavyweight
*C – Connecticut Record
*M – Massachusetts Record
*CN – Canadian Record

The 2002 APA Nutmeg State Open BP & DL attracted over 100 lifters from 8 states plus Canada, making it our largest meet to date.  Over 25 state records and 8 world records were set.  I have more than a few people to thank for our meets being so successful.  Rickey Dale Crain of Crain’s Muscle World was kind enough to provide gift certificates for the lifters and Met-Rx provided supplements.  Guest Lifter 730 lb. bencher Vincent Dizenzo put on a great lifting exhibition for the crowd, even though he had been very ill all week.  Most people would have backed out in a heartbeat rather than risk injury, not Vinnie.  He was determined to make good on his offer to put on the exhibition and boy did he, repping with 600 lbs.!  Thanks a bunch Vinnie, you are a real pro and the crowd loved you.  To all of my terrific helpers who share Mark’s and my determination for putting on the best meets possible, Lon and Dawn Baker, Mikel Brockway, Michelle McKenzie, Lynn Cannamela, Mike Fields, Kurt Bergeron, Cory Wasniewski, Dennis Montembault, Dan Rivers, Don Rivers and Jim Mioduszewski, you guys are the best and I am blessed to call you my friends.

We had some great lifting take place in the bench press and Canada’s Martine St. Jean, our women’s lightweight winner, got things rolling right from the start.  Martine was battling a bad cold but had no problems with the weights.  She benched a nice 200 at 123 lbs. to set a new Canadian Record, win her division and take home best lifter honors.  Krysann Radtke, also a lightweight, set a new Junior CT State Record in her very first meet.  She will be adding to that record soon I’m sure.  Kate Taillon, of SC, headed north and won both our middleweight and master divisions benching 137.5 and coming close with 150.  63 yr. old Marlene Berman of MA had a great day finishing with a WPA World Record of 105 lbs.  Lynn Cannamela made her return to the platform in style with a CT record bench of 160 lbs.

In the men’s divisions, Special Olympians Jesse Bilger and David Dennin put on quite the show for us as they both set CT State Records.  Teenagers Dolan Simmons Jr. and Tim Montague battled back and forth in the 13-15 age division and both set CT records in the process with Dolan coming out on top this meet.  I get the feeling Tim will be looking to change that next time.  The Teen 16-17 division was won by Andy Sciaba who battled two tough Canadians, Joffrey Laurin and Patrick Lauzon, for the win.  Jim Mioduszewski continues to improve each meet and put up a very nice 315 to win the Teen 18-19 division.  The men’s junior division was won by Josh Beaudry who benched 400 at 195 lbs.  Josh is another lifter that is improving by leaps and bounds and having just recently turned 20, look for him to be tearing up those records the way he did the teen records soon.  MA’s Elwin Paskell once again won our submaster division and came very close with a world record attempt of 602.5.  Brett Moorehead of ME didn’t go down without a fight and set a world record in the process with a huge 410 at 162 lbs.  Brett just missed another world record with a massive 442.5 attempt that he’ll have on the books soon.  Dolan Simmons Sr., a submaster himself, benched a very nice 417.5 with much more to spare for a new CT record.  Dolan and Dolan Jr. were one of a number of father and son teams we had present and like father like son, both set CT state records.  The men’s master 40-44 was a hard fought class with 7 entries and big Billy Tucker of RI came out on top with a nice 500 and had 525 all but locked out.  Dan Cowee and Jeff Milne have battled back and forth the last couple of meets in our master 45-49 division.  They both weigh within a ½ lb. of each other and are equally matched in strength.  Jeff won the last meet and Dan evened the score this time with a 405 lb. lift to Jeff’s 400.  Look for many more battles from these two.  VT’s Calvin Frost made the trip down and had a terrific day.  At 56 yrs. old and only 195.75 lbs., Calvin benched a world record 402.5 to win the master 50-59 division.  Nice job Calvin!  Roland Cote of that same division won best master lifter by the Foster formula.  Rich Altieri and Lon Baker also lifted in the 50-59 division and both set CT records with Lon making an impressive return to the platform after suffering a severe rotator cuff tear that required surgery.  Everyone’s favorite lifter Austin Myers won the 70+ division.  He made a very nice 190 and came ever so close with 200.  Austin never fails to inspire all of us.  The men’s open 148 lb. class was won by Jason Strucinski.  Jason benched 330 and came close with a CT state record 342.5 attempt.  Considering this was only his 2nd or 3rd meet, I’d say he’s doing well.  Submaster Brett Moorehead entered and won the 165 lb. class with his massive 410 world record and will be adding to that record soon.  NY’s Craig Schmalz put on quite the show.  Craig benched a huge 480 and just missed a world record 502.5 while winning the 181 lb. class.  Craig was our lightweight best lifter.  Tom Stucke of CT had an awesome day.  Tom took home a new CT state record with a lift of 487.5, breaking a record that has stood for over 10 years in the process.  MA champ Peter Barrett finally gave one of our meets a shot and made it count with a world record lift of 580 in the 220 lb. class and looked good for more.  Our submaster winner Elwin Paskell went home with a win in the 242 lb. class as well with his fine 570.  NY’s Ben White was a man on a mission in the 275 lb. class.  Ben benched a whopping 665 at only 267.5 lbs. and just missed 680.  Ben’s lift puts him 18th on the all-time list according to Michael Soong and was done in a poly shirt.  Look for him to be moving up that list soon.  Ben was our best heavyweight lifter.  Our 308 lb. class winner was RI’s Billy Tucker who took home the master 40-44 trophy as well.

Martine St. Jean showed that she has a terrific deadlift to go with that big bench of hers.  Martine pulled 325 in the lightweight division to take the win and best woman lifter award.  Kate Taillon, a deceptively strong lifter, showed a lot of heart on a nice world record pull of 317.5 to take home middleweight and master honors.  MA’s Carrie Fountaine won the heavyweight class with a new MA state record pull of 295, look for more from her soon.  Lynn Cannamela set a CT state record of her own in the heavyweight class with a lift of 270 lbs.  Lynn helps out at our meets and was injured close to two years ago in a bad fall suffered while helping clean up.  She fell over 7’ backwards onto cement and tore up her knee badly in the process.  It has been a long road back but Lynn has made it.  63 yr. old Marlene Berman wasn’t satisfied with just a world record bench, so she figured she’d pull a big 220 to take home a deadlift world record as well.  I get the feeling Marlene will be rewriting the record books a time or two (or three).  Special Olympians Jesse Bilger and David Dennin continued their winning ways with CT state record pulls for each of them.  Way to go guys!  Teen’s Dolan Simmons Jr. and Tim Montague continued their bench battle right into the deadlifts and Dolan came out on top with a fine 375 to win the 13-15 division.  Canadian’s Joffrey Laurin and Patrick Lauzon went head to head in the teen 16-17 division and Joffrey came out on top with a lift of 430 at 170 lbs.  Cory Wasniewski took home the teen 18-19 trophy with a big CT record pull of 590 lbs. and gave 600 lbs. a ride for good measure as well.  Josh Beaudry hasn’t been in the Junior division very long but that isn’t stopping him from rewriting the record books.  Josh pulled 585 at 195 lbs. for a new CT state record only to follow it with a massive 4th attempt of 600 lbs.  Josh won our best heavyweight lifter award.  Joe Humphries set a nice CT record of his own in the Junior division with a 530 3rd attempt and 540 4th.  The men’s submaster division winner was Robert Burrows who continued the record breaking trend with his own CT state record pull of 485 lbs.  Mike Cormier won the master 40-44 division with a MA record 565 at 176.5 lbs. and was our best lightweight lifter.  Curtis Clapp pulled a nice MA record of 580 in this class as well.  John Sanders of NH made the trip down and made it count by winning the master 45-49 division.  The master 50-59 division had some tough competition with all setting records.  Roland Cote pulled 525 for a new CT state record and best master lifter honors.  John Novak broke the 50-54 world record with his 3rd attempt and came close with a 4th attempt to break it again.  59 yr. old Bob Cole pulled a nice 475 for a new CT state record and 51 yr. old Victor Klein added his world record pull to the mix.  In the men’s open 181 lb. class, Anthony Pagano locked out a nice 515 to take the win.  David Swinburne won the 198 lb. class with his opening attempt of 580 and twice came very close to a CT state record 600.  The 220 lb. class was won by David Jensen with a big 620 pull to best the MA open record by 45 lbs.!  Curtis Clapp pulled a MA master’s state record 580 in this class with Joe Humphries and Jim Gardner pulling state records as well.  Gabe Bonneville was our 275 lb. class winner with 625 and came really close with 655.  Aaron Daniels finished out the meet with the 308 lb. division win and a CT state record 555 pull in only his first meet.  Thanks to all the lifters for your continued support and we hope to see you in the Spring!  Donna Slaga